Jul 10, 2014

Now this is reinventing the wheel! Apple has filed a Patent Application with the US Patent and Trademark Office to show an audio jack housing that doubles as a speaker.

Imagine you only have one opening at the bottom of your iPhone - the Audio Jack and when there's nothing plugged in, you can still hear the sound loud an clear. Well, somebody at Apple has thought on that and has come up with an innovation to make his dream come true. The schematic shows how the channel for the Audio Jack Housing can be turned into an Acoustic Port. Connected to an Audio Driver, that connector has now a double function. This way, the speaker does not communicate directly with the exterior of the device. There are less openings, but you can still hear the sound and use the casing for something else. PattentlyApple notes that future iPhones may not require External Audio Grilles at all. The patent is credited to John Raff and it appears to be filed originally over an year and a half ago.

Another idea is to use the Lightning Port as a replacement for the Audio Jack. If Apple manages to combine all three of those into just one port than the iPhone 7 or 8 may only have one opening - the Lightning port. Apple recently acquired the headphones and music company Beats Audio owned by Dr. Dre. The new division may already be working at high tech audio systems to be incorporated in future iPhones. On the other hand, Apple has a hard time convincing other manufacturers to join them in turning the Lightning Port as the audio port of the future.

Computer World notes that during WWDC Apple suggested that headset manufacturers could use the connector. "This is a module that breaks out analog audio for you ... and connects straight into the Lightning connector on your iOS devices," said Robert Walsh, the manager of Apple's platform accessories."It also provides a digital interface ... so you can offer richer controls for your users, such as integration with iTunes Radio. The Lightning connector is [also] capable of powering your accessories so you don't need batteries in your headphones, for example, to power your noise cancellation."

This is not Apple's first attempt to get rid of connectors and technologies that they find old and limited. In the past, Apple has successfully taken the Floppy Disk, Optical Drive, BlueRay Disc Drive out of there agenda.